Tiktok trend - "Sludge content": a danger or a boost for attention spans?
Nowadays, almost every movie night shows that the younger generation can hardly watch a complete movie without picking up their smartphone. The social media app"TikTok" is considered to be one of the biggest problems. The science blog"SciLogs" explains this as follows: "By consuming TikTok content, we are training our brains to constantly and quickly switch between different things, thereby teaching ourselves that it is less necessary to maintain our attention in the long term." According to SciLogs, this inevitably leads to users' attention spans and patience shrinking.
The so-called "sludge content" goes one step further. With a split screen, several videos are displayed at the same time. This means that several clips run simultaneously within a video frame. For example, the left-hand screen is taken up by a silent video game, while a video of two people having an animated conversation is shown on the right-hand side.
Does Tiktok reduce attention span?
The already fast-paced TikTok videos become even faster. Saif Shahin, an assistant professor of digital culture at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, told theCBC that sludge content is part of a larger trend: simple content that can be consumed passively. "This form of media content is not designed to be actively engaged with," he continues, meaning that there is no need to think when consuming these videos. The already shrunken attention span of users will only decrease further as a result.
But not everyone sees sludge content as problematic. TheFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung(FAZ) reports on fans of the videos who emphasize in the comments that the split screen increases their ability to concentrate on one of the contents and does not reduce it. This is possible because there is only ever one audio track. So there is always a main video whose sound you hear and whose image you see and one (or even several) side videos that are only consumed visually. These are usually undemanding. It can be a video of a simple online game that is easy to follow or a carpet-cleaning video that is not thought-provoking. The important thing is that it doesn't strain the mind.
According to Saif Shahin, TikTok allows multiple distractions on the same screen with these videos, which means that users are kept on the video for longer. The"Süddeutsche Zeitung" also reports that the time users spend on the "sludge content" videos is up to eight times longer than with conventional TikTok videos. The format works. It therefore goes without saying that it will continue to be produced.
"Sludge content" is simple
Exactly who is producing this "sludge content" is unclear. The TikTok trend has neither its own hashtag nor any well-known faces behind it. The videos are simply there and are consumed."Zeit Online" explains that some suspect large content farms behind these videos, while others believe that these clips can be produced automatically by AI.
The long-term consequences of "sludge content" are still unclear. Tobias Dienlin, whose research interests include media psychology at the University of Vienna, told DerStandard that we should be cautious when making statements about Generation Z's reduced attention span. This is because there is no solid evidence for the decline in attention span. Dienlin says: "People prefer different levels of stimulation. Some need complete silence, others can work better in cafés. Making media more complex can therefore lead to better concentration for some." This is where "sludge content" could come in and be seen by many young people as an aid to concentration.
Sources:"CBC","Zeit Online","Süddeutsche Zeitung","Frankfuter Allgemeine Zeitung","Der Standard","SciLogs"
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- Despite some concerns over its impact on attention spans, TikTok's "sludge content" has become popular among users, with the CBC mentioning that the format keeps users engaged for longer periods of time.
- Top news outlets like the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Standard have reported on the increase in time spent on "sludge content" videos, with some users even seeing it as an aid to concentration.
- Digital culture expert Saif Shahin discussed sludge content in an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, suggesting that it represents a wider trend towards passive, simple media consumed on social platforms like TikTok.
Source: www.stern.de
